Nintendo’s special Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 has proved more popular than the company planned for, and one of its executives says restocks are coming. Bill van Zyll, Nintendo’s Latin America vice president and general manager, told the YouTube channel Coelho no Japão that shortages of the console are worldwide, Nintendo Life reports, picking up the interview after GamesRadar+ flagged it.
“It’s a global phenomenon; we have this issue everywhere,” van Zyll said, according to Nintendo Life. “We apologise for that. That certainly wasn’t the intent.”
He was blunt about the cause. “We underestimated how well it would be received,” he said, adding that “there are certainly some markets that stand out.” Nintendo Life says he named North America as one of them.
Restocks, but no dates
Van Zyll said more units are on the way. “We are working on replenishments of the special hardware and software, but it’ll take a little bit of time,” he said, before closing with a familiar request: “Please be patient.”
He did not give restock dates, quantities, or regions in the comments Nintendo Life quoted, and he did not share any sales or preorder figures. Nintendo Life adds that in Europe the system has drifted in and out of stock at various retailers in recent weeks.
Launch is days away
The Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 edition launches Oct. 29, so the shortfall is landing right before release and heading into the holiday season. The console’s headline game, the Ocarina of Time remake, follows on Nov. 5 at $59.99, according to Nintendo Life’s listing.
For anyone who missed a preorder, the takeaway from van Zyll is that more stock is coming, eventually. When it arrives is still up to Nintendo.
